When you are a part of a sport, you work and condition your muscles to ensure you are in the proper shape.

A successful auctioneer is constantly speaking and practicing anywhere they can find time; in the shower, on the road.

Your vocal chords are a muscle, and they need to be worked.

Russ Moravec and Trev Moravec, a father-son auctioneer team from Nebraska, shared their story with Rural Roots Canada on how they both got into the sport and why they enjoy competing together.

Trev Moravec says that for him, auctioneering was a passion that started early on, at the age of 5 years old, when he started taking bids.

He started selling when he was 15 years old.

Trev’s dad Russ, who competed with Trev in the International Livestock Auctioneer Championship at the 2016 Calgary Stampede says he started in the auction business in 1981, and never has he been more proud to have his sons follow in his footsteps.

 “You know I’m very very proud of the fact that they did that. There is other auctioneers that I know that have sons or daughters that didn’t follow in the family business. And I’m just proud that they followed my footsteps. And better yet – they are doing better than I did,” says Russ.

Russ adds that becoming an auctioneer is similar to learning another language and takes just as much work and effort.

“I practice in the shower, as I drive on the road. It’s just like learning another language, which I don’t know any other languages, but practice makes perfect so to speak. There’s guys that probably you can tell don’t practice as much and it just keeps your vocal chords good. Your vocal chords are a muscle and you’ve got to practice on a daily or every other day basis in order to keep yourself in shape.”

Both father and son say doing well in competitions is only a bonus next to the time they get to share together doing what they love.